Don't be self-conscious, be CHRIST-CONSCIOUS

Have you ever been "badgered" by a particular scripture? One that seems to follow you everywhere, popping up everywhere you go. Well I've had a Bible story do that for the past couple of weeks. So in my ultimate wisdom, after it popped up again yesterday, I thought I'd better take a look at this.

It's the story of the woman at the well. Reading between the lines, she's possibly the victim of some nasty gossip amongst the neighbours and we soon see why - we learn she's had five husbands, and she's currently living with a guy who's not her husband. That's 6 guys in her life! That's some going, no wonder she's getting some nasty comments.

She's a Samaritan - the Jews and the Samaritans don't have anything to do with each other, so for Jesus, a Jew, to talk to her is outlandish. So, she's got a reputation and she's got fed up of the jibes and the comments and has decided that the early morning trip to the well with the other girls and their nasty comments is just not worth it. She'll go in the afternoon instead. But this is the middle east - it's scorching hot in the afternoon, and a pitcher of water is heavy to carry, especially in the midday heat. Those comments that have made her resort to this later trip to the well are really, really nasty!

So Jesus arrives, He's a bit tired after a long journey too. His disciples go off to get some fodder for lunch. This is a divine meeting. He's sent all of His disciples to get some lunch, and He is resting by the well. Now He can't get water from the well as He's no bucket, so He's not stopped there so He can get Himself a drink. He's waiting...

Along she comes, and you know the story. If you don't, it's in John 4.  Firstly, I'll point out Jesus initiated the conversation. I'll come back to that point in a moment.  She had no idea who this man was. But they had their conversation, she listened and Jesus was candidly honest, revealing He was the Messiah. There's no doubt she believed him. She rushed off without her water or her jar!

When she left, they were both changed. Jesus was no longer weary. He was invigorated because He was refreshed at doing the work which He was sent to do: reaching the lost.  The woman was changed too. She went back to the village where she lived and started telling people all about what had happened to her. She was talking to people who she had spent months, maybe years, avoiding! She suddenly became less self-conscious, and was now Christ-conscious.

I now want to draw a comparison to the this story and the previous chapter. I think some chapters are put side by side for a reason - not all the gospels are necessarily chronological. Mark is probably the most chronologically accurate.  So it's important to think about why the Holy Spirit has presented us with the order of things especially in the other 3 gospels.  So in John 3 we meet a Jew, quite a prominent Jew in fact, called Nicodemus. Now we know the Pharisees didn't think highly of Jesus. But Nicodemus was curious. He wanted to know more.  He thought he knew Jesus. He calls Him "Rabbi" and a Teacher.  And you may think, yes, He was a teacher. But He came as Saviour and He wants to be the Saviour to us first and foremost. I used to think Nicodemus was a cool dude, seeking out Jesus to know more. But when I look at him in contrast with the woman at the well in the next chapter, I'm not so sure.

Nicodemus comes to ask Jesus some questions, but he's embarrassed or scared at what his fellow Jews and the Pharisees will say if they see him talking to Jesus, so he comes under the cover of darkness. That's not very nice for Jesus. You wouldn't want someone to come and speak to you in secret because they were embarrassed to be seen with you, would you?
He acknowledges that Jesus is sent by God, because of the signs and wonders he performs, but he thinks He's some kind of teacher or prophet. John 3 v 1-2 :

 Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews,

Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles—and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him

He's seen signs and wonders and miracles, yet thinks Jesus is just a teacher. The woman at the well hears Jesus telling her about her life (something a prophet could/would do) yet accepts that He's more than a prophet, He's the Messiah. Nicodemus doesn't specifically ask Jesus a question but Jesus tells him that he must be born again to experience the kingdom of God. I believe He was warning Nicodemus that he wasn't to rely upon his religious upbringing and associations and that he must take control of his own destiny. Jesus gets to the point in v11 when He tells Nicodemus that 'having seen the evidence (the signs and wonders) you still don't believe! If I were to tell you more complicated stuff how on earth would you understand when you can't even get it through your tiny little head that I'm the Messiah? What else do I have to do?'  Now I clearly paraphrased that! But that's the gist of it.

We're not told how the late night meeting ended with Nicodemus. One can only hope that he took off his religious head and took in the truth of what Jesus was saying to him. It doesn't seem that he ran to his Pharisee friends and said 'I just had an amazing conversation with Jesus.' I'd be surprised if he even admitted to the meeting, let alone boast of it. Quite a contrast to the woman at the well. Was Nicodemus changed after his encounter with Jesus? Was Nicodemus too self-conscious even after his one-on-one? It's sad if he was.

John 3 v 20, 21 sets the scene for the next chapter (where we meet our outcast lady at the well) and concludes the meeting with Nicodemus:

For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the Light, and will not come out into the Light but shrinks from it, lest his works (his deeds, his activities, his conduct) be exposed and reproved.

 But he who practices truth [who does what is right] comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—wrought with God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence upon Him]

The lady at the well appears at first glance to be the wrongdoer, living in sin, having had 5 husbands. And yes, all that was wrong. But she was searching for something, and she was presented with the Light and wanted to embrace it and she believed. Her faith in Jesus changed her inwardly.  Nicodemus, on the surface, appears to be the good Jew, following the law of Moses. But he closes his eyes to the truth he has seen before him in all the wonderful signs and miracles he has seen Jesus do, and does not believe. He keeps his mind closed, keeps his heart closed and remains self-conscious.
Verse 18 says:

He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation—he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name].

I bet I know which of these two people went on to lead the most fulfilled and blessed life after their one-on-one encounters with Jesus. When you lose yourself, you'll find your Saviour.
We can all learn a lesson from the woman at the well. Be Christ-conscious, not self-conscious.

Looking through young eyes

Sometimes life seems so complicated.  We don't appreciate the days when we had no bills, mortgages, cleaning lists, obligations, work pressures.....the list goes on. We spend a large part of our childhood wishing we were adults, then a large part of our adult life thinking it would great to be a kid again when life was so simple.

I think we can learn a lot from children though. Kids look at things differently than adults do. My little girl may only be 1 yr old, but she is teaching me so much, something I never expected.  I thought it was my job to teach her!  But everything we do holds bundles of fun for her, from folding washing, to a day out. She laughs all the time. At anything.  Whereas I look upon folding the washing as a chore I don't really want to do, she just finds it another thing where she can have fun.

We sometimes make a little game of folding the washing and play peekaboo with it as I'm hanging it out or folding it. However, the other day we were going out, so I just got on with putting the wet washing on the airer with no games. About 3 items in, she stood by the basket and handed me the next item; I put it on the airer, and then she handed me the next. I was suprised by her doing this, and obviously thought it was so sweet that she was helping her mummy. She thought it was fun, and was laughing, and all of a sudden it was fun for me too. I saw 3 things though when she did this. Firstly, she learnt what we were doing by watching me. Second, she accepted the task and started helping out. And thirdly, she did it with great joy, and still thought it was great fun.

If we are watching the ones we look up to (Jesus and those He's put in leadership of His church), we will see what they are doing and learn what is required. We need to accept their authority and start "doing" too. And finally we need to do it with joy, not grumbling and groaning. If we're not doing this, what are our children seeing when they look to us?



I also think we overcomplicate things as adults. We have "10 steps to financial wellbeing"; "7 keys to receiving our healing", "20 things that keep us in unforgiveness" etc etc. You've heard the sermons (and I'm not in any way condemning such sermons).  But really, only one thing is needful. Jesus made it so simple: Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Perhaps this is what Jesus was referring to when He told us to have child-like faith. We have all these steps and keys, and sometimes we miss the most important thing; we should be keeping it simple. We get bogged down with our complicated lives and we zap the fun out of things, questionning authority, questionning God's word perhaps. Will that prayer be answered? Does God really care?  If we have child-like faith, we would perhaps approach things in a different way. Whilst we're waiting for an answer to prayer, knowing our Father loves us and will answer us, maybe we'd be more joyful and maybe we would see the joy in the little things and stop grumbling and groaning. 

It's all a matter of perspective. As adults we seem to lose this ability to see the world as a child sees it. We make things boring, because we see things as a chore, from doing the housework, to turning up at the prayer meeting. As I look at my little girl, she's so full of joy and innocence and she goes about her day finding the joy in everything. Children just enjoy life. Maybe today we should keep things simple, look at things like a child would, and get back to child-like faith.